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Background:Social anxiety is common among adolescents in Pakistan and is associated with low self-esteem. Among the recommended treatments, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective, and self-help approaches are encouraged.Aim:To determine the effectiveness of culturally adapted CBT-based guided self-help (CACBT-GSH) intervention, using a manual ‘Khushi aur Khatoon’, for treating social anxiety when added to treatment as usual (TAU) compared with TAU only.Method:A total of 76 adolescents with social anxiety aged 13–16 years from six schools in Multan, Pakistan were recruited into this randomized controlled trial. Participants were divided into intervention and control groups in a 1:1 ratio. Social anxiety, self-esteem and fear of negative evaluation were assessed through the Liebowtiz Social Anxiety Scale for children and adolescents, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation, respectively, at baseline and at the end of the study. Guided self-help using culturally adapted CBT (CACBT)-based self-help manual (eight sessions, one session per week) was provided to the intervention group. The effect of the CACBT-GSH intervention was analysed with ANCOVA.Results:There was a statistically significant difference between the intervention and the control groups in favour of intervention. Participants in the intervention group showed reduced symptoms of social anxiety (p < .001), fear of negative evaluation (p < .001) and enhanced self-esteem (p < .001).Conclusion:The study demonstrated the effectiveness of CACBT-based guided self-help intervention in treating social anxiety and addressing the symptoms associated with it.

The present study is a pilot study to examine the initial effectiveness of the Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) program (Jaycox et al. in Support for Students Exposed to Trauma: the SSET program. Lesson plans, worksheets, and materials. TR-675, RAND, Santa Monica, CA, 2009) in reducing PTSD symptoms and building resilience and social support among children living in flood-affected rural areas of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. One hundred and ninety-three children were screened for symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and 38% met eligibility criteria. Children were then randomly assigned into experimental (n = 38) and control (n = 37) groups. The findings of the study showed a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms, and improvement in resilience, and perceived social support in the experimental group. The result of the study demonstrates that SSET, delivered by a clinically trained provider, may be an effective intervention for treating traumatic stress symptoms among children affected by natural disasters like flooding, particularly in under-resourced contexts. This pilot lays the initial groundwork for SSET in this context, which may ultimately be implemented by non-clinicians to address trauma-related psychological issues.

The COVIDiSTRESS global survey collects data on early human responses to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic from 173 429 respondents in 48 countries. The open science study was co-designed by an international consortium of researchers to investigate how psychological responses differ across countries and cultures, and how this has impacted behaviour, coping and trust in government efforts to slow the spread of the virus. Starting in March 2020, COVIDiSTRESS leveraged the convenience of unpaid online recruitment to generate public data. The objective of the present analysis is to understand relationships between psychological responses in the early months of global coronavirus restrictions and help understand how different government measures succeed or fail in changing public behaviour. There were variations between and within countries. Although Western Europeans registered as more concerned over COVID-19, more stressed, and having slightly more trust in the governments' efforts, there was no clear geographical pattern in compliance with behavioural measures. Detailed plots illustrating between-countries differences are provided. Using both traditional and Bayesian analyses, we found that individuals who worried about getting sick worked harder to protect themselves and others. However, concern about the coronavirus itself did not account for all of the variances in experienced stress during the early months of COVID-19 restrictions. More alarmingly, such stress was associated with less compliance. Further, those most concerned over the coronavirus trusted in government measures primarily where policies were strict. While concern over a disease is a source of mental distress, other factors including strictness of protective measures, social support and personal lockdown conditions must also be taken into consideration to fully appreciate the psychological impact of COVID-19 and to understand why some people fail to follow behavioural guidelines intended to protect themselves and others from infection. The Stage 1 manuscript associated with this submission received in-principle acceptance (IPA) on 18 May 2020. Following IPA, the accepted Stage 1 version of the manuscript was preregistered on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/ytbcs. This preregistration was performed prior to data analysis. Fil: Lieberoth, Andreas. University Aarhus; Dinamarca Fil: Lin, Shiang Yi. University of Hong Kong; China Fil: Stöckli, Sabrina. University of Bern; Suiza Fil: Han, Hyemin. University of Alabama at Birmingahm; Estados Unidos Fil: Kowal, Marta. Wroclaw University; Polonia Fil: Gelpi, Rebekah. University of Toronto; Canadá Fil: Chrona, Stavroula. King's College London; Reino Unido Fil: Tran, Thao Phuong. State University of Colorado at Boulder; Estados Unidos Fil: Jeftić, Alma. International Christian University; Japón Fil: Rasmussen, Jesper. University Aarhus; Dinamarca Fil: Cakal, Huseyin. Keele University.; Reino Unido Fil: Milfont, Taciano L.. University of Waikato; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Reyna, Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina Fil: The COVIDiSTRESS global survey consortium. No especifíca

Reproductive Health Awareness is not only neglected but also a taboo issue in Pakistan. The growing age women in Pakistan are hardly aware of reproductive health complications because of reasons linked to socio-cultural and religious factors which are the determinants of inadequate reproductive trends. Menstruation and menstrual practices, hygiene, reproductive tract infection, early pregnancies, infant death, mortality rate, women?s health security, child upbringing by inexperienced young mothers are the fundamental issues faced by Pakistani females and it is directly attached with ignorance of reproductive health know how. This study aimed to discover the need of educating adolescent females of city Karachi regarding reproductive health. The objective of this study was to acquire evidence on current awareness and insights on puberty and reproductive health needs. The research followed a quantitative and pragmatic approach enabling empirical analysis along with shedding light on the facts and figures. The data was collected through convenient sampling from four schools in the urban and rural areas of the city, Karachi and analyzed through descriptive statistic, linear regression and Kruskal Wallis Test. The analysis of the data indicated that awareness regarding reproductive health amongst adolescents is very minimal along with guidance and counseling provided to them at home and in school. The study highlighted the fact that education and medical facility available in schools have a significant impact on reproductive health awareness but the schools in Pakistan of both the rural and urban areas lack in mass awareness on reproductive health. The conclusion and observation leads to creating channels for imparting knowledge and awareness regarding reproductive health and its needs to the adolescents. It is recommended to create awareness amongst youth especially females by integrating it into school curriculum from grades 5 onwards or by conducting reproductive health awareness seminars in schools at different intervals.

Healthcare professionals face serious ethical dilemmas in the workplace when they start realizing that their personal values are colliding with organizational values. Since such feelings could affe...